__economic thinking about sports__

RIP Gerald Scully 1941-2009

2009 May 7

by Phil Miller

Gerald Scully has died of pancreatic cancer. Every sports economist is familiar with his books and his seminal 1974 AER article in which he estimated how much MLB players were underpaid relative to their marginal contribution to team revenue under baseball’s reserve clause. His estimation involved examining the determinants of revenue and the determinants of winning percentage. From this he was able to estimate a player’s contribution to team productivity and, consequently, to team revenue.

I personally have cited his work extensively in my sports economics classes and had two students undertake independent studies that built upon Scully’s pioneering work in the economics of sports.